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Donald Trump was undoubtedly one of the most exciting candidates ever who has fought for the president’s position. Moreover, he is the only president who has ever been in WWE and has an official profile on the WWE website. A man with such credentials, when he decides to run for president, is sure to kick up a storm in media houses. That may be one of the reasons why Donald Trump received $2 billion worth of free media coverage.

A man with such credentials, when he decides to run for president, is sure to kick up a storm in media houses.

Clinton Received $746 Million Free Media Coverage, Trump Got More Than Twice That

Trump personally spent about $10 million on his ad campaigns. It is a paltry sum when compared to what Hillary Clinton spent on her media campaigns. However, if we compare the value of free media earned by them, then Trump beats every other presidential candidate not only in 2016 but ever in the history of the presidential campaigns in America. While Clinton received $746 million in free media coverage, Trump has earned more than double that.

A survey was done by mediaQuant where analyzed media coverage of every candidate in the run

A survey was done by mediaQuant where analyzed media coverage of every candidate in the run and then assigned dollar values to the coverage by the advertising rates. The term media includes all types of media, including social media like Facebook and Twitter, print, news channels and broadcasts.

Trump was continuously participating in interviews by phone with news channels, which is quite rare for a presidential candidate. During his run, it was found that Trump occupied the top three popular news channel’s night time slots. Apparently, media houses like them considered Trump as good for business. With his fascinating background and his new attitude, it was indeed so.

Trump was continuously participating in interviews by phone with news channels, which is quite rare for a presidential candidate.

$66 Million From Trump’s Own Pockets Part of Campaign Fund

Trump was a bit famous even before he decided to run for President, but after that decision, he was thrust into the spotlight. People of America were curious to know him better and his ways. He used to use his own money for traveling and used to conduct rallies at his hotels. He even paid a part of the campaign funds from his own money, about $66 million. All these facts were enough to ignite some serious interest in him.

Donald Trump has never been someone to shy away from social media

Donald Trump has never been someone to shy away from social media. He extensively used his Twitter account and the 140 characters to reach out to his supporters and the public. He did not follow the usual rules that were followed by his predecessors and his opponents. Other than Twitter, he also used Facebook for his digital campaign. He had a team that would go through more than 50,000 Facebook ads to see if they were fit enough to be posted. Every aspect of those ads was taken into account to get the maximum effect.

Trump’s Figures Blows Competition Out of the Water

Let’s compare Donald Trump’s free media coverage with some other popular presidential campaigners. From the Democrats, Bernie Sanders has earned $321 million in ad coverage. Moreover, from the Republicans, Marco Rubio received $204 million, and Jeb Bush drew a slightly more free media coverage of $214 million. These statistics are enough to show how far Trump is when it comes to receiving free media coverage.

His entirely different attitude and his slogan “Make America great again” did grab a lot of eyeballs.

His entirely different attitude and his slogan “Make America great again” did grab a lot of eyeballs. However, all those media coverage and popularity do not mean it was all positive. According to a source, 23% of the free coverage earned by him was negative, while for Clinton it was just 12%. However, whatever may be the case, Trump was a genius regarding the use of media and in creating interest in the minds of the Americans. Now its time to see whether the trend continues in the next presidential campaign.

Hillary Clinton had an obvious advantage over Trump in two aspects, the money and the workforce at her disposal. It was not unexpected to see her spend more than double of what Donald Trump spent on his presidential campaigns. Clinton’s digital campaign was backed by several millions of dollars while Trump did not believe much in ads.

Unlike Clinton, Trump did not set out to hire a large team of professionals to manage his campaign.

Clinton tried to target the youth through Facebook and other social media. Her hundred plus strong team aggressively handled the social media campaign. While Clinton was spending her money on digital campaigns, Trump took to the traditional mediums. This does not mean that he did not use any social media. Instead, he was spending categorically. He hardly spent any money in states where Clinton had spent a fortune. While he only spent in those states where he had a majority.

Clinton tried to target the youth through Facebook and other social media.

$1500 Trump Website Generated $90Million Campaign Fund

Trump’s digital director, Brad Parscale, was experienced and a close confidant of Trump. When he was hired for creating a website for Trump’s presidential campaign, he demanded only $1500. Later, through hard work and smart use of resources, he ended up earning $90 million. Unlike Clinton, Trump did not set out to hire a large team of professionals to manage his campaign. He had a small team that comprised of close friends and people who had been working with him for a long time. This resulted in substantial efforts by them on a personal level.

Trump’s victory without spending the big buck can be credited to the fact that he used data very efficiently. He did not go about spending money in every state. He never wanted to target the masses. His team and he knew that for winning only a concentrated effort on a specific section of the society was enough. To do that he did not have to spend much, but he achieved his target.

Using Data Efficiently

By using the available data, he knew which areas and sections to target. This did the trick. While Clinton’s efforts were distributed and Parscale says that they had to work long hours and they had to learn many skills to handle the campaign appropriately. The team used to go through around 50,000 to 60,000 ads daily and screen them for their efficiency. They minutely went through every ad and customised it to reach out to voters as they had to maximise the effects. They tailored every aspect of those ads so that they had the desired results. Due to these persistent efforts the digital campaign was a huge success without any huge investment.

Parscale says that they had to work long hours and they had to learn many skills to handle the campaign appropriately.

$39Million on TV Ads, $29Million on Digital Campaign

Regarding spending, Trump spent close to $39 million to air ads on TV and another $29 million on Parscale’s firm for consultation and for handling the digital campaign. Another payment was for a TV closing ad of two minutes that depicted Trump and the photos of his rallies. That ad was effective, according to Parscale. All these amounts look paltry when compared to Clinton’s spending on digital campaigning. She spent nearly $140 million on these campaigns. She took to Facebook and several other social media sites and TV too.

$66Million Out Of Trump’s Pocket

While Clinton’s fundraisings were filling the campaign’s accounts, Trump had to spend $66 million from his pocket. The business-minded Trump was able to squeeze out the maximum benefit from his available funds. He had an advantage over Clinton in this matter.

The minor expenditure by Trump also is due to his prior publicity. He did not need to spend so much on TV commercials to popularise himself. While Clinton had wealthy backings, Trump had his popularity and his business-oriented thinking.

The End Result

Overall, Trump made calculated moves to ensure that his investments bore fruit while Clinton was spending on every available resources and opportunity. Maybe if she had not faced any troubles like the leak, during the election, she might have gone easy on the promotions. Trump’s campaigns were better managed, and he knew what he had to do to win. He was clear on his objective, and all these factors contributed to his low levels of expenditure and a better digital campaign than his opponents.